Chapter 6: The Black Ledger
Daniel’s private office was hidden behind the wine cellar.
Only four people knew the access code.
Daniel.
His father.
His chief financial officer.
And Vanessa.
Agent Hayes accompanied Emily, Arthur, and Vanessa downstairs while the remaining investigators secured the ballroom.
The black key opened a narrow steel cabinet behind Daniel’s desk.
Inside were three passports, stacks of foreign currency, and a leather-bound ledger.
Vanessa lifted it with trembling hands.
“He kept all the real transactions here.”
Arthur opened the ledger.
Each page listed dates, account numbers, and abbreviated names.
Money had been transferred from Brooks Hospitality into shell companies registered overseas.
The failing hotels were not simply losing money.
They had been drained.
Richard and Daniel had moved more than eighty million dollars out of the company over four years, allowing debt to pile up while telling employees and investors that expansion costs were responsible.
The consolidation with the Carter Trust was supposed to fill the hole.
Once Emily’s money entered the company, Daniel planned to use her supposed medical condition to take control.
Then Brooks Hospitality would declare a “strategic restructuring.”
Thousands of employees would be dismissed.
The profitable properties would be sold.
Daniel and Richard would leave the country with the hidden funds.
Emily stared at the pages.
“You knew about this?” she asked Vanessa.
“Not all of it.”
“How much did you know?”
Vanessa wiped her palms against her dress.
“I knew Daniel had accounts outside the United States. He told me they were emergency reserves.”
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled, but Emily remained unmoved.
“I knew he was using you,” Vanessa admitted. “I knew he planned to control the trust after the wedding. I thought he would divorce you once the companies were stable.”
“And marry you?”
Vanessa looked down.
“Yes.”
Emily felt something colder than heartbreak.
Vanessa had not stolen a man from her.
She had volunteered to help dismantle Emily’s life.
Agent Hayes took possession of the ledger.
Daniel was waiting when they returned upstairs.
The confidence had vanished from his face.
Vanessa walked directly toward him.
“You were going to leave the country without me.”
Daniel gave her a contemptuous look.
“You were useful, Vanessa. Don’t confuse that with being necessary.”
She slapped him.
The ballroom gasped.
Daniel raised his hand.
Emily stepped between them.
“Touch either of us,” she said, “and the last image your investors see will be you striking a woman at your own wedding.”
Daniel lowered his hand.
Then Arthur’s phone rang.
He listened for several seconds before looking at Emily.
“The Brooks board has called an emergency vote,” he said. “Daniel is asking them to remove his father and appoint him sole chief executive.”
May you like
Daniel smiled.
Even without the marriage, he still had one move left.
